Gallic Royal Navy Transmission Center (iRP) (FO)

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ID: Baron Blaise Mersenne
ENREGISTREMENT: GRN-3305-81-C
ORIGINE: Dijon Station
DESTINATION: Sieges Sociaux, Royaux de Marine
CHIFFRAGE: Securite-B

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This is Baron Blaise Mersenne, submitting an action report for the 10th of Octobre, 732 A.G.S.


My report begins at Dijon Station, having just departed aboard the patrol vessel Aramis. Duke Moreau and Baron Blanc were aboard the Normandie and Duquesne, respectively, to perform fleet maneuvers; I had decided to record the proceedings for submission to L'Acadamie Navale, that future warship commanders may learn the finer details of combat in the line. Just as we were moving into position by the Round Table, an automated transmission came through on an open frequency. My Operations officer determined it to be a distress signal, and I was authorized by mon Duke to seek out the signal source and take whatever actions may be necessary.

What follows are the visual and recorded data of the events that transpired:



Fig. 1


Fig. 2


Fig. 3


Notes: At 03:05 SMT, the Aramis came under attack from a Council patrol wing. No doubt that those vermin also received the distress signal and came to investigate. The timely arrival of His Majesty's own patrol fended off the Council while my crew performed the necessary operations. By 03:09:14 SMT, however, a larger Council wing arrived and we were forced to hasten our work. Thankfully, our shields and the fine construction of His Majesty's Shipyards held strong and we managed to return to Dijon with minimal hull damage.

Analysis: We are currently unsure how this vessel could have come so far into His Majesty's Territory. Random drift can be ruled out, as this possesses the least supportive strength; it is highly unlikely that an un-powered and un-manned transport could drift through all the necessary jump holes to arrive in Burgundy. We are thus left to conclude that it trespassed into Gallia. Its location at the time of discovery was approximately 10 klicks east of Gisement d'asteroide de Nouvre, which can by confirmed in the transcript as coordinate F-6 on the Burgundy star-charts. Based on this data, the following assumptions about its journey can be made:

-The transport entered Burgundy through either the Lorraine Jump Hole or the Dauphine Jump Hole.
-Along its route to whatever destination, it came under attack from some hostile force.
-The wreck of the transport was left at coordinate F-6. Whatever crew survived activated the automated distress signal before escaping, being captured, or expiring.

When examining the first point, it is very likely that the transport utilized a jump hole to enter into Burgundy; archived action reports indicate on many occasions that Sirian intruders are aware of the jump holes within His Majesty's Territory and make extensive use of them to evade our patrols. We must elaborate, though, on what the intended destination of the transport was. It is much more common for Sirians to enter Burgundy through the Dauphine Jump Hole, usually having entered Gallia through the breach in Lanquedoc by the Council. Typical cargo scans will indicate neon canisters or deuterium fuel, most likely to support the Council or tampered with to sabotage His Majesty's industry. Should it have entered Burgundy through Lorraine, this would entail that it crossed through the breach and entered from the systems beyond Lorraine; recon drones indicate the existence of some hostile force outside of the jump hole in the mine field, and it can be assumed that this vessel would have had no chance to survive that trip. The Dauphine-Burgundy route seems the most likely route, and we can further say that the transport was proceeding towards le Gisement d'asteroide de Nouvre to enter into Lorraine, or proceed towards a Council installation of Champagne.

In relation to the second point, we can eliminate potential attackers that assaulted the transport. It is possible that the Sirian stumbled across a Royal Navy patrol, at which point it would have been engaged; with the transport crippled, the patrol may have left it to its fate. If this were the case, however, a formal report would have been submitted for evaluation. At this point in time, we have not yet found a report in D'Intelligence Navale's database. A Council patrol may have found the transport initially, but it is highly irregular for them to open fire on a Sirian; it would behoove them to make as many contacts as possible with potential suppliers, and there also is the case of another Council patrol wing arriving on the scene later to investigate the distress signal. We are left to examine the Maquis, the Corse, and the Brigands. The Maquis, while the more extreme of the rebels, must still maintain face with the Council. It is unlikely they would blatantly attack a Sirian as this would hurt their relationship with the Council more than it would help. The Unione Corse tend to have no reservations about whom they pillage, especially when it is a Sirian with foreign commodities and technology. Similarly, the Brigands are very opportunistic, and though it is rumored that they intend on establishing connections with the Sirians, that may not do much to dissuade them from assaulting a poorly-defended transport.

The final point is unfortunately the most difficult to analyze. I regret not having conducted a more detailed scan on the transport to determine how many, if any, escape pods were on the transport or if there were any organic signatures that could indicate corpses. In the absence of this key data, I can only present this possible scenario: based on some action reports, it has been noted that the Brigands may occasionally capture a vessel's crew and press them into service, or use them in labor camps. It is possible that the same fate met the crew of this Sirian transport, based on the greater potential that it was initially attacked by the Brigands.

Cargo: When performing the initial scan of the Sirian transport, Tactical discovered two points of interest: a residual charge remained in the weapon banks, indicating that cannons may still be intact (Fig. 2); a small, but active, electronic unit emitted a faint signal that was correlated to some sort of currency unit (Fig. 3). Low-powered bursts from the Aramis' guns were able to remove the cannons from the transport's hull, and breach the cargo hold to retrieve the final item. Our first analysis on the weapons showed no match to currently-known Sirian weapons; we are lead to believe that these are prototype in nature and may provide great detail in how far the Sirians have come in terms of combat capabilities. The second item was less exciting, having been determined to be nothing more than some manner of Sirian credit-transfer unit.

Conclusion: We have been presented with a rare opportunity to learn more about the Sirians in such a short time. Though severely damaged, the Sirian vessel provided key data into small transport design and, with luck, Sirian weapon technologies. I am still curious, however, as to the location (if they are even still alive) of the crew. After departing, the transport ceased transmission; later patrol flights could not detect a trace of the vessel at coordinate F-6. It can be assumed that it degraded beyond critical structural integrity, or was salvaged by the Council, Brigands, or Corse.

To the best of my abilities, I claim the contents to be truthful and accurate.

By my hand and eye,

Baron Blaise Mersenne


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Maybe some day, they'll see a hero is just a man who knows he's free.